SHAWNEE, Okla.– Allie Anderson and Hunter Eshnaur had 19-kill afternoons, leading the way as the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns volleyball team (6-4) swept to a pair of 3-0 victories on the opening day of the GAC/MIAA Crossover, downing Southwest Baptist in the opener and Missouri Southern in the nightcap.
 
NEXT UP

• The Golden Suns play in the final day of the GAC/MIAA Crossover on Saturday, September 8, in Edmond, Oklahoma. The Golden Suns face Emporia State at 10 a.m. and site host Central Oklahoma at 6 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED (TECH vs. SBU)

• Tech raced out to an 8-3 advantage in the opening set. 
• SBU stormed back to pull to within 9-8. 
• Arkansas Tech scored seven of the next nine points to claim a 16-10 advantage before SBU staged a furious rally of its own, cutting its deficit to 18-17. 
• Tech forced set point at 24-20 after a kill by Hunter Eshnaur, but SBU avoided the point and knotted the match at 24-24. 
• The Golden Suns took advantage of back-to-back errors by SBU to claim the opening set 26-24.
• Tech again rolled to an 8-3 advantage in the second set. 
• This time, Tech continued to create separation, stretching the advantage to 22-9 after a kill by Tymber Riley. 
• The Golden Suns forced set point at 24-11, but SBU again held off the Suns for two points before Tech was able to clinch the set 25-13 after a Mackenzie Eford kill. 
• Tech opened with an 8-3 lead once again in the third set. 
• SBU rallied to tie the set at 11, but the Golden Suns were able to break a 12-12 tie with a 7-1 run to pull ahead 19-13. 
• The Golden Suns forced match point at 24-19, and a service ace by Amanda Milnick sealed the 3-0 win. 

NOTABLES

• Allie Anderson led Tech with 11 kills, hitting .234. Milnick dished out a team-best 34 assists, while Meredith Darnell led the Golden Suns with 20 digs. Hunter Eshnaur added 13. 
• Tech out SBU .257 to .130, hitting .444 in the second set. 

HOW IT HAPPENED (TECH vs. MSSU)

• Missouri Southern raced out to a 6-0 advantage in the opening set. 
• With MSSU holding on to a 7-1 lead, the Golden Suns went on a 10-1 run to claim an 11-8 lead. 
• After the Lions pulled to within 16-13, Tech reeled off six straight points to go ahead 22-13.
• The Golden Suns closed out the opening set 25-17 on a kill by Brittany Melcher.
• The Golden Suns scored the first seven points of the second set and rolled to a 10-1 advantage. 
• The lead grew to 17-4 after a kill by Allie Anderson.
• After the Golden Suns took a 22-9 lead, MSSU scored eight of the next nine points to pull to within 23-17, before Tech closed out the set with a pair of kills. 
• Tech again opened strong in the third set, opening up a 12-5 lead. 
• The Golden Suns doubled up the Lions at 20-10, and after MSSU narrowed the set to 22-13, Tech scored three straight points after two kills by Rilie Vote and an ace by Meredith Darnell to close out the match. 

NOTABLES

• Eshnaur hit .407 with 12 kills, while Riley hit .417 with seven kills. 
• Milnick had a 19-assist, 10-dig double-double. 
• Darnell led Tech with 12 digs.
• Tech had seven blocks to MSSU's two and eight aces to MSSU's two. 
• The Golden Suns outhit Missouri Southern .309 to .136.